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CONFIDENTIAL
ISSUES OF REPUTATION
For the purposes of this discussion, here are the principal objectives:
• Minimise any mentions in the tabloid press in the UK and US
• Steadily to restore your profile in select media, political and philanthropic
circles
• Establish you as a pioneering supporter of science and technology with a
focus on the less fashionable but most important disciplines
• Consider some kind of annual event which brings together your business
and philanthropic interests
Tabloid press attention
It is imperative that this be tackled as a matter of urgency, particularly in the UK
which generates so much of the follow up coverage in the US, but also comes to
the fore in the most cursory Google search of your name.
Since it is an unambiguous objective of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday to take
down Prince Andrew, it is disastrous for you to be seen in any way to facilitate his
lifestyle, or to help with his well documented issues. Their sole interest in you and
Ghislaine is as a means to attack Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. You need
to studiously avoid any involvement whatsoever with the couple, which will lessen
the interest and we can establish a constructive relationship on your behalf with
them. In the fullness of time, it will be possible to run a positive piece about your
philanthropy.
As for the US tabloids, much of what they have published took the lead from the
UK papers and is to do with the Prince Andrew/ Sarah Ferguson/ Bill Clinton axis.
Without that distraction, it will be easier to maintain a lower profile.
Restoring your profile
The strategy has to be one that is medium term, say 18 months, which starts off
slowly and intensifies over time, and should not appear to be calculated. We can
discuss in more detail but it should include the following components:
• “Clean up” Google: Another urgent priority is to retain one of the expert
firms in search engine optimization (SEO) to “clean up” the results on all
major search engines where your name is part of a search query. Today,
when anyone types in your name, a majority of the first few pages of the
results are references to the charges, to paedophilia, to Prince Andrew,
to unflattering stories – many of which link back to the Mail websites. We
have hired an excellent team of Israeli experts for other clients, and there
are many firms that claim to be able to optimize results this way but fail to
deliver. I cannot overstate the importance of this, because it is the initial
source of information on you for many people.
• Top editors and columnists: These engagements should be informal
at the outset, and preferably at dinners, lunches and events which aren’t
built around you. The focus should be on serious business and financial
journalists who are more interested to hear your opinions on the world
economy than to probe tabloid headlines. Those editors and columnists I
tend to single out are Gerald Baker and Thorold Barker at the Journal,
Lionel Barber and John Gapper at the Financial Times, Andrew Sorkin
and Hugo Lindgren at the Times, John Micklethwait and Matthew Bishop
at the Economist, Josh Tyrangiel at Businessweek, as well as a handful
of international correspondents. Ideally, the first few encounters would be
at dinners and events that we organize in New York and internationally,
which could be followed by dinners at your house in due course.
• International political circles: Much more is to be gained by increasing
your profile among the international political class than the domestic U.S.
political class. The global nature of your business, the importance of the
growth markets and the puritanism of American politics are good reasons
for this. In our view, you should be spending time with European, Middle
Eastern, Asian and Latin American political and business leaders – some
of which you of course already do on a daily basis but in a concerted way
through such gatherings as, the Ambrosetti Forum, the Abu Dhabi Media
Summit, Bilderberg and the BRICS Summit. I see that you are part of the
Trilateral Commission and this is in a similar vein. The advantage offered
by these gatherings over private meetings is that it demonstrates vividly
to all the other opinion leaders the unique position you occupy among the
international business elite.
Science and technology
The passion and commitment you have for supporting scientific and technological
research is extremely helpful in two ways. First, when spending time with editors
and columnists, it is important to focus their attention on areas of your choice, not
theirs. Not only is your funding of these disciplines an interesting subject, but the
special rapport that you enjoy with a number of outstanding scientists. This helps
to showcase your unique position, and acts as a powerful character reference, as
did the Alan Dershowitz quotes in your 2005 Vanity Fair profile.
Second, since it is intrinsically difficult for people to understand the nature of your
business, it is all the more important that there is an aspect of your life that is well
understood and which can be proactively communicated. Philanthropy can be the
vehicle for this, and your highly targeted philanthropy even more so, because the
impact is quantifiable. A lot can be accomplished with the science and technology
press in the first instance, who are interested in the serious side to your work and
are uninterested in the tabloid headlines.
Some of the necessary steps are:
• Take down the Jeffrey Epstein Science and Jeffrey Epstein Philanthropy
websites, and build a new site from scratch which explains your interests,
your past funding, the scientists you support and the breakthroughs
• Introduce greater transparency into how you allocate funding in response
to grant applications
• Establish a Scientific Advisory Board of the Foundation, which serves to
demonstrate the deep knowledge base you draw on and attracts the best
scientists to apply
• Sets out quantifiable long term targets, i.e. the Gates Foundation target
to eradicate malaria by 2015
Annual event
I would advise you to think about some kind of annual event that brings together
your business and philanthropic interests, i.e. an intimate and high level summit
or conference. The best events of this nature clearly demonstrate:
• The convening power of the host
• Your interest and expertise in a range of subjects
• Your network that your clients and acquaintances greatly value
• The connections made between your guests
• That you are undaunted by the negative publicity, it is ‘business as usual’
Whilst different from what I have in mind, the Milken Conference has been a key
part of Mike Milken’s rehabilitation. This could be a much smaller, more high level
gathering focused on a subject of interest to these core constituencies.
Osborne & Partners LLP
14 June 2011